


only you can make my heart and soul brand new

by Ephemeral_Joy



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: (it's my own post because i'm an egomaniac), Ballroom Dancing, Based on a Tumblr Post, Canon Compliant, Dancing, Dancing Lessons, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Music, Selena Quintanilla not Selena Gomez
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28638303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ephemeral_Joy/pseuds/Ephemeral_Joy
Summary: Sure, Luke used to have a crush on Selena, but that didn't mean he projected that onto Julie. Not at all.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 60
Kudos: 206





	only you can make my heart and soul brand new

**Author's Note:**

> i'm an idiot who keeps making headcanons on tumblr waiting for someone to put it into a fic when i know y'all just flatly stare back at me. so here i am. fuck you. (definitely workshopped this with @blush-and-books and @lukesjulie!! thanks chloe and star <3 READ THEIR FICS!!) 
> 
> edited | not beta'd | title: my love // selena quintanilla (translated) | my cursed tumblr @lydias--stiles

‘So… that hug, huh?’

Luke looked up from his fervent scribbling, pick falling from his lips in surprise. ‘Huh?’

Reggie smirked, the infamous face of someone about to start shit, and shot Alex a quick look. Luke’s eyes twitched with suspicion. ‘That hug. Between you and Julie? You know, Alex, it reminded me of something.’

Alex matched his expression, crossing his arms. ‘What did it remind you of Reginald?’

That shit-eating grin widened, focusing back on Luke. ‘I  _ vividly  _ remember taking a pic of you with that Selena impersonator on Venice.’

Colour drained from Luke’s face. Fuck. He had hoped that after twenty-five years in a dark room with Alex bawling and then getting revived into a 21st century "hologram" band, they would’ve forgotten about his  _ teeny tiny _ crush on Selena. Who could blame him? She was one of the biggest singers of the time, she was literally _ everywhere, _ and her music slapped. And yeah, it helped that she was hot. She had only been seven years older at the time so the perfect celebrity to have a crush on. Whatever! Alex used to froth at the mouth over Howie Dorough and Reggie flirted with anything that had boobs. 

And sure. Fucking  _ sure. _ Luke did notice the similarities between Julie and Selena upon the first days of meeting. And sure, it probably contributed to his attraction towards her. But they had  _ nothing  _ to do with each other! At all! It was just all one fucking coincidence. Julie could’ve looked like Pippi Longstocking and he still would’ve liked her. (Right? Right. Right? Maybe?  _ Gah.  _ The guys made him flustered just like that.) 

Luke scoffed, unconvincing. ‘So?’

‘Hmm…’ Alex mused. ‘I think I'm gonna ask if Julie has red lipstick. What do you think, Reg?’ 

‘I think that's a great idea, Alex!’ 

‘Boys,’ Luke groaned. ‘Please don't. It's been twenty-five years! That crush has nothing to do with… whatever is going on with me and Julie!’ 

Alex flatly stared at him. ‘You mean your undeniable love for her?’

Well damn. ‘I-!’

‘It's your face, dude,’ Reg cut in. ‘You lose the swag. Like someone just has to say her name and you get all…’ Mimicking a lovesick expression, Luke's scowl deepened.

He didn’t make that face and more importantly: he wasn't  _ dumb. _ He knew he liked Julie a lot. Hell, he even told her! Kind of! On the patio, after they went to his parents and sort of had a moment. (He also told her music - and therefore life - wasn't worth it without her… that kind of said everything, huh?) 

Okay. Luke was halfway in love with her. Sue him! But it wasn't because of the celebrity crush he used to have on Selena! 

‘Or maybe we should tell her about your posters,’ Alex continued with a snicker. Then, his smile became downright devious. ‘Were those for up the wall or for during the _ night,  _ Lukas?’ 

Yup. The guy was fucking dead. Luke flung himself onto the couch and began wrestling Alex with a warrior cry. Reggie egged them on from the side, playing a tune on his bass as background music like some fucking cartoon. 

‘You fucking tell her, I swear to God!’ 

‘We're  _ dead!  _ What the fuck are you gonna do about it?!’

‘Alex!’, Luke roared. 

‘Guys!’ 

All three froze, wide-eyed expressions turning to an incredulous Julie that just came home from school. (If he weren't holding Alex in a headlock, he'd admire how pretty she looked. Because she looked pretty today. She always looked pretty. That kind of looped in his head every time she was around him, which was all the time, so Luke constantly thought she was pretty. Julie was pretty. What was he doing again?) 

Alex ripped himself from his grasp. Oh, right: re-murdering Alex. 

‘What are you doing?’, she chuckled, amused. Though it was directed to the group, she specifically looked at him. 

Luke nervously grinned. ‘Nothing. Guy stuff.’ 

A brow quirked up. ‘Fighting?’

‘Yeah,’ he breathed, trying to keep the bravado intact. ‘We heard it's all the rage now.’

‘Woke!’, Alex quipped. 

Julie stepped further inside and placed her elbow on Reggie’s shoulder. ‘The opposite actually. Doesn't matter. Let’s hustle!’ 

Afternoons were Luke's favourite time. For all the boys, he presumed, but it truly felt like a million candles flickered and burned inside of him when Julie came home and the music started. How they unabashedly played and pushed each other to become better. How Reggie would go off the beaten path with his bass and they'd follow his experimentation, creating unique sounds none heard before. How Alex got viscerally more confident on the drums and added a flair that wasn't there before. How he played until his fingers bled, overjoyed and excited and ready to create the Next Big Thing. And then there was Julie, steering them in the right direction like a beautiful compass. Her crystalline voice a map to greatness. Her laugh chipping away at any resolve he had around her. 

(Julie and him were careful. It wasn't noticeable, but he felt it. She leaned on Reggie and hugged Alex and only touched him if she wanted his immediate attention. A tap on the shoulder or bumping feet. Nothing big. No effervescent hugs or cradling her cheeks unapologetically and breathless. It bothered him. He wouldn't even lie about that. Luke knew that what he felt - what she felt - was really fucking depressing, but he also knew that it was  _ now or never. _ They got a second chance and he wished Julie had that same erratic instinct as him. To fall unafraid. Then again, maybe she just had better priorities and he was the dumb one for having her become the syncopation lodged between the rhythmic beating of his heart. Thud, thud, Julie, thud.)

The music suddenly shifted. Maybe because of Reggie's experimentation, maybe because they were just talking about it, but Luke's fingerpicking became eerily like that of a Spanish guitar. Soulful and warm and it reminded him of the time he tasted sweet wine at a New Year's Eve party. Reggie followed with ease, slipping into the style with a grin. Alex lessened the drums, lightly tapping to fill the empty spaces. A surprised laugh left Julie's lips, eyes flitting past all the guys and then, astounding them all, began freestyling in Spanish. 

Alright. He was three quarters in love with her. 

He had no clue what she was saying, but her voice has taken on an entirely new colour and sound. It was raspier and breathier, her vowels shifting to something warmer. It was like there were two Julie's inside of her and they promptly unlocked one. She moved differently, her posture changed - even the way she smiled was different. A good different. Another different to gawk over and go crazy about in his songbook. 

(Luke wouldn't show her today, or maybe ever, but he has written her songs. About her, about how he felt, about what they could be, about what they could've been had he been alive. Though he was all about that “now or never” mantra, knowing that Julie and him were never supposed to meet (that he was never going to meet his equal in his own lifetime), hurt. It fucking hurt. He could only imagine going insane over this girl back in ‘95 and forcing the guys to watch all the chick-flicks so he could figure out how to woo her. (But then she'd woo him with her voice, no doubt.) It was a masochist dream he sometimes indulged in. Whatever. Reggie dreamed about hot dogs.  _ That _ was sad.)

Julie began twirling around all the boys, strings of Spanish weaving between the instruments like honey and the warm breeze of summer. Luke couldn’t help it; he gravitated towards her with blatant awe and glee. Noting his cue, her voice prompted him to fasten the strumming and drive them towards that euphoric feeling of lightning in a bottle. Luke wasn’t sure the lid would stay on though. Julie was the one that struck the electricity in the first place. 

Their grins were a breath apart, eyes locked and that overwhelming feeling of giddiness nearly making him drop his guitar and grab her face.

She leaned back and stopped singing, Alex’s drums fading out and Reggie tapping out a few more notes. 

He was fumbling for coherency. ‘Jules, that was… what  _ was  _ that?’

The girl shrugged, coy. ‘Reggie’s awesome playing reminded me of one of Selena’s older songs.’ She paused. ‘Quintanilla,  _ not  _ Gomez.’ 

The way the guys found each other’s gaze with exasperation, amusement and depression might’ve been the funniest thing in the world, if it wasn’t for the fact Luke knew what was going to happen. 

‘Alex, don’t!’

‘Luke had a crush on her!’, he blurted, poofing out of his stool before Luke lunged at him and appeared back on the attic. 

Julie blinked. ‘Okay?’ But then she saw Reggie’s creepy smile and how Luke was unable to look at her  _ because fucking hell, Alex, _ and it dawned on her.  _ ‘Oh. _ Ha!’ Clasping her hands, she took a subtle step away from Luke. ‘Got it.’ 

Floundering, Luke exclaimed. ‘It’s not like-! It wasn’t like a big crush or something!’

‘It was,’ Reg deadpanned. 

‘It wasn’t!’, Luke tried again, a slow smile crawling on Julie’s face at his own cringe. ‘She was just- you know-’

Julie tilted her head, looking far too emboldened and cute all at once. ‘Luke? Do you have a  _ type?’  _

‘Fuck yeah, he does!’, Alex cheered, air high fiving Reggie. 

Luke burned red from how spot on she was. For a second he wished for those jolts to come back and just zap him out right then and there. But isn’t this what he was waiting for? For her to jump? He couldn’t let her do it alone! (Or worse: let her win this game of flirting. Luke was no loser.) Mustering all the confidence back into his bones, he met her stare with a smirk.

‘What if I do?’

That she didn’t expect, eyes widening. Reggie whistled. Alex frowned. ‘Do we… need to go?’

‘Hm,’ Reg puffed. ‘Not sure yet.’

Julie didn’t back down from his heated gaze though, the smile melting into something more timid. ‘Then… I’d tell you the looks you were giving me before make a lot more sense now.’

‘Ha!’, Alex exclaimed. ‘Reggie was right! You  _ do  _ make a face!’

‘Can both of you just-!’ His hand flailed around, like they were two annoying flies he wanted to slap. The guys got the hint and winked, poofing out the studio. Turning back to Julie, she has walked to the stereo on the other side of the room.

The thing with Julie was that, despite how fucking exhilirating it was to  _ know  _ there was more, he had no clue what to. Luke has never been a boyfriend or dated or tried to become  _ anything  _ with a girl. Music always came first and he died before his mind could wander. He had crushes and he has kissed girls at clubs and parties and gigs - but it was never this. It was never staring at the girl’s back and feeling like every breath they shared was this monumental step forward or backward. 

Carefully, he went to stand next to her, shoulders barely brushing. Julie was rummaging through the collection of CD’s, seeming to look for one in particular. Her fingers dove in the pile and showcased a case at him triumphantly. 

He rolled his eyes at her. ‘I’m not gonna combust at the sight of Selena, Jules.’

‘Just wanted you to know we do have her,’ she teased, her glowing face too close for him to actually be annoyed. ‘You can put her on if you feel nostalgic or something.’

His hand brushed hers. ‘Thanks, Julie.’

And then that monumental silence fell again, both staring at the stereo and his pinky still in contact with the back of her hand. He was such a fool. Then, Julie acted for the both of them and put the CD in. The first notes of “Amor Prohibido” began to play, so ridiculously cheesy they laughed. Julie began rolling her shoulders, dancing in place and mouthing the lyrics and making eyes at him. He kept laughing, because this was so stupid and so nice and so ridiculous and she was so  _ Julie  _ and he’d rather have his heart pause for her then have it beat ever again. 

He was very much fully in love with her. 

And with that in mind, he stuck his hand out, elated. She stopped her movements and stared at it for a second. ‘You know salsa?’

There were two paths for him to go on. The first being  _ yes,  _ he did know salsa. Of all the clubs the guys and him used to sneak into, plenty of those were salsa bars where they picked up a thing or two. He was no professional, but he knew how to lead a girl and keep the rhythm. The second path, however, was much more fun. 

‘No,’ he smiled. ‘Teach me.’

A silly grin bloomed on her face, amped up the volume, and slipped her hand in his. Leading them to the middle of the studio, that grin evolved into a nervous giggle. 

‘You have to be serious about it though!’, Julie exclaimed.

‘I am!’, he laughed, keeping the nerves of having her hand so firmly in his at bay. ‘Just show me.’

Slowly, Julie went over the basics. How he should hold her hands, the flow of the steps, even going as far as grabbing his hips and twisting them around like he was some wedged screwdriver. 

Snickering, he gently took hold of her again. ‘I think I know how to move my hips, Jules.’

The song looped to the start again and she nodded at him. ‘Show me!’

Alright. He grasped her a little tighter and began to perform the moves she showed him, expertly leading her in circles around him. Julie’s jaw fell slack, her expression that of someone who realised she’s been played. 

‘You knew!’

Luke twirled her into his chest and then wound her back out. ‘Had to do something, right?’

‘Had to?’, she breathed, seemingly dazed. 

‘Well- yeah.’ He laughed, fingers twitching to scratch the back of his neck but keeping his grip. Shifting back into the simple three step to look at her, he said: ‘Because we’re us, you know?’

He didn’t need to explain. The way her eyes gleamed golden and her smile softened and looked at him like he was truly here and alive, told him enough. His movements lulled, his fingers fully intertwining with hers. And then they stood still. 

The song faded out once more, Julie edging closer (like when she told him to thank her mom if he saw her) until her breath caressed his own and she slowly reached up. Her warm lips touched his cheek, lingering and warm and better than anything he’s ever felt. Untangling, he drew her even closer with a hug, lips falling from his cheek to his shoulder. Grins stretched across their faces. Luke couldn’t describe what he felt. Giddy? In love? Luke was pretty sure this was one of his indulgent dreams. A dream where he’d wake up feeling empty, wishing he’d feel the indent of her hand in his and then write some more about her because what else was there to do? 

But he was awake. And so was she. And here they were. 

He wasn’t sure if a cheek kiss warranted an “I love you” to utter from his own, so he hoped that if he just held her long enough she would feel the shift herself. His head dropped on hers, nose pressed into the crown and chanting the words in his mind. _ I love you, I love you, I love you, I know it’s crazy but I love you.  _

‘I’m happy you used to crush on Selena,’ Julie whispered. 

He shut his eyes. ‘Hm?’

‘Kind of worked in my favour, huh?’

He chuckled, the lurch of his heart almost unbearable.  _ I love you, I love you, I love you, I know it’s crazy but I love you.  _

‘I guess,’ he mumbled. And then he said it anyway. Now or never. ‘I guess I just tend to fall for wickedly beautiful girls with angelic voices.’

Julie’s head popped up, looking just as gorgeous as he had just described her - breathless, pupils dilated and the most stunning smile breaking the lines in her skin until she was just that: love. 

Her soft hands slipped from his back to his cheeks, trembling. ‘Can I try that again?’

Luke didn’t know what to focus on, wasn’t even sure if he was hearing her, and blinked. ‘What?’

And then she kissed him. 

Luke wished he could explain it. He was blessed with linguistic charm and virtuosity, could make any song into hit, was an expert at impassioned speeches to lift people’s spirits. But melting against Julie, sighing against her mouth and caressing her neck with his calloused thumbs was indescribable. It was nirvana. It was everything and more. It was a crooked frame that someone finally straightened out. It was Julie. It was love.

It wasn’t music. Music was far too small to even capture this emotion. 

(Later, when he could reflect about it without her close-by and driving him crazy, he still wouldn’t be able to describe it, but he found a close enough comparison. It was that very human moment of meeting someone  _ new.  _ He met Julie again, just differently this time. She made him feel so fucking alive that he almost didn’t care he wasn’t.) 

The languid kiss turned into shaky smiles and he kissed her again and again and again until she was giggling and he was grinning and they pressed their foreheads together and-

The song looped again. 

Julie rolled her eyes. ‘Not liking Selena as much now.’

His grin was stuck, brushing it against her temple. It came so easy to him, to them to fall into this new normal as if Alex and Reggie weren’t teasing them a mere thirty minutes ago. Maybe that was all they needed: a moment alone. 

His head dropped to her ear. ‘Jules?’

‘Hm?’ She nuzzled closer, tuning out the music. 

‘What were you singing before?’

An illegal smile stretched across her face, his heart stuttering out of place as she bit her lip and shook her head. (Drive me fucking wild, Jules. I’m ready.) 

‘I think I’m going to keep that one a secret.’

  
  


(By next Halloween, the boys had evolved to being physical and visible for extended periods of time. For the occasion, Julie decided to kill him again by dressing up as Selena in that iconic tied white shirt and jeans and red lips. After his gobsmacked moment, he quickly scrambled a Chris Pérez together and took her out. They snuck into one of the salsa bars on the strip and danced the night away. It went well - they had all the time to practise anyway.) 

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know how my fellow polyglots feel about this, but i always feel like a slightly different person in every language i speak? i'm serious and mature in dutch, very jovial in french, chaotic and loud in english. idk if that makes sense??? i like to believe that when julie speaks spanish there's this other side that comes out. 
> 
> here's a cute duo dancing the salsa. just smack julie and luke's faces on and pretend it's in the pretty studio lighting during the afternoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz4gnkknT1M&ab_channel=LaViejaGuardiaSalsaSocial
> 
> the selena outfit julie was inspired by! https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/gettyimages-50438913-1603129719.jpg?crop=0.9800159872102319xw:1xh;center,top&resize=768:*
> 
> and this is their couple's costume: https://d18ufwot1963hr.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/430C15BE-79AB-44D2-8ECA-D1E8D0C3881B.jpeg


End file.
